Cool Icons For Mac

We love free icons and icon sets. In the overview below we present 55 more excellent, free and professional icons for desktop and web design.

Showcasing beautiful icon designs from the Mac App Store.

Some of them can be used for both private and commercial projects. You may always use them for free in your private projects.

Nevertheless, it is always worth to take a look at the license agreements — they can change from time to time. Further Reading on SmashingMag:.Unlimited Downloads: 500,000+ Icons, Templates, Fonts, Stock Photos & Design Assets ( ad). Simplicio Icon SetThe main motivation behind the design was to create a simple, even minimalistic set which can fit into every project. The set contains 78 free icons in.png and.ico including AI which can be useful for both corporate and personal setting. You can use the set for free – without any restrictions whatsoever.The icons are available in the.png- and.ico-formats in the resolution 128×128px.

AI-sources are also included in the package. This icon set was designed by from Turkey especially for Smashing Magazine and its readers. You can use the icons for private and commercial projects, blogs and web-sites for free, without any restrictions whatsoever. However, you are not allowed to sell or redistribute the icons without author’s and Smashing Magazine’s permission. (jpg, 0.3 Mb).

(2.3 Mb)Tools Icon SetTools always come in handy. For instance, if you are designing an online-store you may need some easily recognizable tool icons to indicate some categories. And this is where this set, designed by, may help you out. This set contains 8 free icons (bookmark, caliper, gear, hammer, screwdriver, toolbox, tools, window) in the format.png in resolutions 64×64px, 128×128px and 256×256px.As usual, the set is available for free download and can be used without any restrictions whatsoeve. You can freely use it for both your private and commercial projects, including software, online services, templates and themes.

The set may not be resold, sublicensed, rented, transferred or otherwise made available for use. Please link to this article if you would like to spread the word. (.zip, 0.5 Mb)Horror Icon SetIf you are designing some project that is supposed to be scary - be it a Halloween-themed site, a private blog or an online-store with some particular merchandise - you may need some beautiful yet scary icons to set up the atmosphere on your site. Created a horror icon set for this very purpose. The set contains 8 icons (axe, bat, eye, grave, gun, jason, skull, voodoo) and is available for free download and use.

(.zip, 0.73 Mb)Fresh - The application and financial icon setToday we are glad to release Fresh: an application and financial icon set. This set contains 58 raster and vector icons, designed. The set includes icons in.png,.icns and.ico-formats. An.EPS vector file is available as well.You can use the icons for private and commercial projects, blogs and web-sites for free, without any restrictions whatsoever. (jpg). (58 icons,.zip, 7.8 Mb).

(.zip, 11.6 Mb)The GraphAnother day — another fresh freebie. Today we are glad to release The Graphs, a free icon set with 18 various graphs in the formats.png and.max (3D Studio Max).

This set was designed by especially for Smashing Magazine and its readers.You can use the set for all of your projects for free and without any restrictions. You can freely use it for both your private and commercial projects, including software, online services, templates and themes. The set may not be resold, sublicensed, rented, transferred or otherwise made available for use. Please link to this article if you would like to spread the word. (0.3 Mb).

(.zip, 7.1 Mb). (.zip, 3D Studio Max, 1.1 Mb)The design took place in 3ds max and the rendering was done with Vray. No previous sketches were made, so the design process was more like a 3dsmax + Vray experiment of getting high-quality 3D graphs with very little effort and fast. Personal information: I’m a freelance designer from Macedonia.

I work mainly as a web designer, but I’m a great Vray enthusiast. Feed Me AnimalsA Free RSS Feed Vector Icon Set, designed by especially for Smashing Magazine and its readers. This set contains 5 original RSS-feed icons. The icons are available in in.png,.jpg,.eps and.psd.You can use the set for all of your projects for free and without any restrictions. You can freely use it for both your private and commercial projects, including software, online services, templates and themes. The set may not be resold, sublicensed, rented, transferred or otherwise made available for use. Please link to this article if you would like to spread the word.

(0.3 Mb). (png and jpg-files are available) (.zip, 1.4 Mb). (.zip, 3,9 Mb). (.zip, 3,1 Mb)Flavours Icon Set, a graphic designer from Bonn, Germany, has put in a lot of time and effort to release this handy icon set especially for Smashing Magazine and its readers. His set, aimed to help designers in their Web and user interface designs, contains 177 icons in a resolution of 48×48 pixels. The files are available for in the PNG and PSD sources, so you can modify the files as you wish.As usual, the set is available as a free download and can be used for any purposes without any restrictions whatsoever.

You can freely use it for both your private and commercial projects, including software, online services, templates and themes. The set may not be resold, sub-licensed, rented, transferred or otherwise made available for use. Please link to this article if you would like to spread the word.

(Zip, 2.0 Mb). (.psd, Zip, 5.9 Mb)DelliPackThis set of “delicious icons” contains 5 high-quality icons: a folder icon, a paint icon, a safe icon, a building icon and a printer icon which can be useful for both corporate and personal projects. The set includes a PSD-source file as well. You can use the set for free — without any restrictions whatsoever.The icons are available in the.png-format in the resolutions 256×256px, 128×128px, 64×64px, 48×48px, 32×32px and 16×16px. This icon set was designed by and is now released as a gift for Smashing Magazine and its readers.

You can use the icons for private and commercial projects, blogs and web-sites for free, without any restrictions whatsoever. However, you are not allowed to sell or redistribute the icons without author’s and Smashing Magazine’s permission.

(1.1 Mb). (1.6 Mb)DelliPack 2Today we are glad to release The DelliPack 2! This second set of “delicious icons” contains 15 icons: a build icon, a home icon, an interact icon, a monitor icon, a pen icon, a phonebook icon and other icons which can be useful for both corporate and personal projects. You can use the set for free — without any restrictions whatsoever.

(4 Mb)The icons are available in the.png-format in the resolutions 256×256px, 128×128px, 64×64px, 48×48px, 32×32px and 16×16px. This icon set was designed by Wendell Fernandes and is now released as a gift for Smashing Magazine and its readers. You can use the icons for private and commercial projects, blogs and web-sites for free, without any restrictions whatsoever.

However, you are not allowed to sell or redistribute the icons without author’s and Smashing Magazine’s permission.Dellifeed Icon SetA set with 8 tasty and appealing social icons in the format.png. This set was designed by Dellustrations.com especially for Smashing Magazine and its readers. The icons perfectly fit to the coming Christmas atmosphere and there is also always a reason to offer the readers of your blog a delicious RSS-cake icon!Download the icon set for free! You can use the set for all of your projects for free and without any restrictions. You can freely use it for both your private and commercial projects, including software, online services, templates and themes. The set may not be resold, sublicensed, rented, transferred or otherwise made available for use.

Please link to this article if you would like to spread the word. (.zip, 2 Mb)Smashy The AlienThe set contains 8 icons (RSS, news, home, download, contact, calendar, blog and Smashing) with a nice modest alien who is just too shy to show his face completely. You can use the set for private and commercial projects, blogs and web-sites for free — without any restrictions whatsoever.The icons are available in.ico and.png-formats in resolutions 32×32px, 48×48px, 64×64px and 128×128px. If you love Smashing Magazine just like Smashy does feel free to place him on your blog.

This icon set was designed by aka Abeja from Croatia especially for Smashing Magazine and its readers.You can use the icons for private and commercial projects, blogs and web-sites for free, without any restrictions whatsoever. However, you are not allowed to sell or redistribute the icons without author’s and Smashing Magazine’s permission. (0.25 Mb). (0.23 Mb)Pacman Returns Icon SetWe have found the Russian design studio a long time ago. Denis Kortunov and his team published a couple of truly useful articles related to icons design. We’ve been impressed by thte quality of their work and contacted them, asking to design an unusual and creative icon set. We’ve discussed what exactly we would like to have and let the designers do the magic.

In the end the result was a set of unusual avatars, similar to the legendary PacMan. We love the icons, and hopefully so are you!The set “Pacman Returns” contains 11 high-quality icons (including RSS and “Smashing Pacman”-icons) that you can use for free in your private and commercial projects - without any restrictions whatsoever.

Symantec encryption desktop 10.4.2 free download for mac download. Issue/Introduction:While the chances are extremely low that a boot.efi file could become corrupt on a boot disk or partition protected by Symantec Drive Encryption, it is possible. Prepare for this unlikely event by creating a recovery CD before you encrypt a boot disk or partition using Drive Encryption on a Mac OS X system.Note: To download the recovery image for your version, click in the Download Files section on this page.Symantec Drive Encryption version 10.4:To download the recovery images for Symantec Drive Encryption version 10.4, see article. If this occurs, it could prevent your system from booting.

(.zip, 0.45 Mb). (.zip, 0.8 Mb).

(.zip, 1.1 Mb)ToysThis is a retro icon set that was designed by and released with Smashing Magazine for its readers. The set contains 9 “toys” icons (png, 128×128px) that may come in handy in a variety of settings – e.g.

In projects related to children and family.The files are transparent PNGs, and the source file (.eps) is included as well. As always, the set is completely free and may be used for any private or commercial project without any restrictions whatsoever. (.zip, including.eps-source, 0.6 Mb)Office Mouse Icons SetA set of 15 unique icons, in.png and in the resolution 128×128px.

(.zip, 0.3 Mb)Nurture Social Icon SetThis is definitely one of the last social icon sets we release here, on Smashing Magazine. Since we’ve released a lot of “social” sets throughout 2008, we decided to not release such sets in the future – unless the quality is truly outstanding. The latter is the case in ’s social icon set called “Nurture”. We just couldn’t reject David’s great work which is why we release it in this post, even although some commenters may not like it.“Nurture” is a Social Icon Pack that was designed for digital creatives who want to add a unique, lively, and green touch to their blogs and other web-projects. The set includes 10 icons featuring the logos of popular social bookmarking sites. The set was designed with a fresh, lively, green look in mind.

The pack includes 512x512, 256x256, 128x128, and 64x64 icons in.png format. It can be used for free in any commercial or private projects with no restrictions, but the set itself may not be resold, sublicensed, rented, transferred or otherwise made available for use. (.zip, 7.1 Mb)DressUp! Avatars Icon SetHere you will find a set with 16 original avatar icons in.png. This set was designed by Dante Michael Afrondoza especially for Smashing Magazine and its readers.

The set was created from scratch using Adobe Fireworks — the.png-sources are available for free download as well. The icons are available in 128×128px.You can use the set for all of your projects for free and without any restrictions. You can freely use it for both your private and commercial projects, including software, online services, templates and themes. The set may not be resold, sublicensed, rented, transferred or otherwise made available for use. Please link to this article if you would like to spread the word. (.zip, 0.2 Mb).

A device that supports the VESA mount can be mounted on many different supports, from arms to wall mounts. And when it comes to standing behind a product I can’t see any company beating Hanns-G. Hannspree tv. G obviously squeaks it for acreage. There are dozens of similar monitors out there from companies with proven track records of backing up their product.

Download the icon set for free!You can use the set for all of your projects for free and without any restrictions. You can freely use it for both your private and commercial projects, including software, online services, templates and themes. The set may not be resold, sublicensed, rented, transferred or otherwise made available for use.

Please link to this article if you would like to spread the word. (.zip, 0.25 Mb)Soccer Icon SetWe are aware it’s winter out there right now, but it’s always good to prepare for summer early, right? This set was designed with the owners of sport-related websites in mind.

If you are a fan or have designed a soccer-related website, these icons may come in handy. The set contains 8 icons in resolutions ranging from 32x32 to 512x512 pixels. It was designed by the design agency especially for Smashing Magazine and its readers.

(.zip, 2.8 MB, including Fireworks source file)Royal Icon SetThe set contains 6 “royal” icons which you can use for private and commercial projects, blogs and web-sites for free — without any restrictions whatsoever. The icons are available in.ico and.png-formats in resolutions 32×32px, 48×48px, 64×64px and 128×128px.This icon set was designed by from Ukraine especially for Smashing Magazine as a gift for its readers. You can use the icons for private and commercial projects, blogs and web-sites for free. However, please take a closer look at the license agreement — e.g. It’s forbidden to sell or redistribute the icons without author’s and Smashing Magazine’s permission. (0.35 Mb). (0.36 Mb)Cheers!Cheers is a free set of 12 “social” glasses, designed by Helen Gkizi from, especially for Smashing Magazine and its readers.You can use the set for all of your projects for free and without any restrictions.

However, it’s forbidden to sell them. Please link to this article if you would like to spread the word. (.zip, 0.6 Mb)The Leaf Fall - A Social Icon SetThis set contains 11 social icons, designed in an autumn-style. The set includes icons for Twitter, Technorati, RSS, Reddit, Facebook, Delicious, StumbleUpon and Digg. You can use the set for free — without any restrictions whatsoever. The icons are available in the.png-format in various resolutions.

This icon set is intended to be used by bloggers. It was designed by especially for Smashing Magazine and its readers.You can use the icons for private and commercial projects, blogs and web-sites for free, without any restrictions whatsoever. However, you are not allowed to sell or redistribute the icons without author’s and Smashing Magazine’s permission. (jpg).

(1.3 Mb)Icon sets from elsewhereIcon set with 12 different images in PNG format 256x256px. Designed by Roberto Abril Hidalgo.Affel combines purple and black colors with some lighting and shadow details to make your computer look classy and as much special as it deserves. Inside: 72 icons in PNG format with a resolution of 256x256 px.

Designed by Marvin Ristau.Pure Icon Pack contains 14 high quality (256x256 pixels) icons; PNG and ICO formats. This package includes: CD Icon, Computer Icon, Folder Icon, DVD Icon, Internet Icon, Network Icon, Search Icon, USB Icon, ZIP Icon and others.Over 1000 professional desktop icons designed for KDE, packed in one single pack and released under GPL.9.png and.icns (Leopard ready: 512x512 px), 2 Bonus and 1 Wallpaper (2560x1600 px).512x512px in png and icns.These desktop icons show the Camera Obscura as it was used by Nicephore Niepce by 1826 or 1827 in an Aperture and iPhoto style and are intended as an homage to him. Mac + Win + Linux + iContainer.

Leopard ready (512×512). Including 7 icons intended to replace Aperture or iPhoto, Aperture Library, iPhoto Library, Aperture Vault, Aperture Project and your picture folder.25 Facebook ui icons in a high res and vector form with slight adherences to the tango specification.6 Icons for Windows in 8 Sizes.

My Computer, My Pictures, Dustbin Full, Dustbin Empty, CD and one Icon for your fav. Design Software.Small icons10 basic user interface icons available in the resolution 16×16px, 32×32px and 128×128px. Designed by Alexy Goncharenko.Fugue icon set358 icons (16×16px) are included in PNG format. The icons are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license.This set includes 9 icons one can use to display accessibility features or address accessibility issues.

Released under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Germany, when used backlink is required.Icons in both icon sets are available in resolutions 256x256, 6 PNGs in the first package, 8 PNGs in the second package.“Some smiling lips, a camera lens, some vortex colour, a crop tool, a TV icon, and plenty more.” All icons are available within an Adobe Illustrator CS2 file (10.1 Mb).The package combines 100 easy to use and attractive objects. The background of all objects is transparent and can be used on any colored background. Each object can be changed in size, rotated, increased or decreased in opacity, fitted with shadows or even overlapped with one another to create extra effects. Keynote Objects are compatible with Keynote, iWeb, Pages, Microsoft PowerPoint and Word.Two tasty icons of coffee goodness. These two freebies come in the following sizes and formats: 48 x 48 px; 128 x 128 px; 256 x 256 px; 512 x 512 px; PNG (transparent backgrounds); CNS; ICO.Formats:.icns,.png, 128×128px.The files are transparent PNGs, and the source file (.eps) is included as well. As always, the set is completely free and may be used for any private or commercial project without any restrictions whatsoever. (.zip, including.eps-source, 0.6 Mb)Office Mouse Icons SetA set of 15 unique icons, in.png and in the resolution 128×128px.

The icons are designed by, especially for Smashing Magazine and its readers.You can use the set for all of your projects for free and without any restrictions. You can freely use it for both your private and commercial projects, including software, online services, templates and themes. The set may not be resold, sublicensed, rented, transferred or otherwise made available for use. Please link to this article if you would like to spread the word. (.zip, 0.3 Mb)Nurture Social Icon SetThis is definitely one of the last social icon sets we release here, on Smashing Magazine. Since we’ve released a lot of “social” sets throughout 2008, we decided to not release such sets in the future – unless the quality is truly outstanding. The latter is the case in ’s social icon set called “Nurture”.

We just couldn’t reject David’s great work which is why we release it in this post, even although some commenters may not like it.“Nurture” is a Social Icon Pack that was designed for digital creatives who want to add a unique, lively, and green touch to their blogs and other web-projects. The set includes 10 icons featuring the logos of popular social bookmarking sites. The set was designed with a fresh, lively, green look in mind. The pack includes 512x512, 256x256, 128x128, and 64x64 icons in.png format. It can be used for free in any commercial or private projects with no restrictions, but the set itself may not be resold, sublicensed, rented, transferred or otherwise made available for use. (.zip, 7.1 Mb)DressUp! Avatars Icon SetHere you will find a set with 16 original avatar icons in.png.

This set was designed by Dante Michael Afrondoza especially for Smashing Magazine and its readers. The set was created from scratch using Adobe Fireworks — the.png-sources are available for free download as well.

The icons are available in 128×128px.You can use the set for all of your projects for free and without any restrictions. You can freely use it for both your private and commercial projects, including software, online services, templates and themes. The set may not be resold, sublicensed, rented, transferred or otherwise made available for use. Please link to this article if you would like to spread the word. (.zip, 0.2 Mb).

(.zip, 0.1 Mb)Hearting Social Icon SetThis is a set of 22 social icons in.png and in resolutions 16×16, 32×32, 64×64. This set was designed by Aravind Ajith, the creator of, especially for Smashing Magazine and its readers. Download the icon set for free!You can use the set for all of your projects for free and without any restrictions.

You can freely use it for both your private and commercial projects, including software, online services, templates and themes. The set may not be resold, sublicensed, rented, transferred or otherwise made available for use. Please link to this article if you would like to spread the word. (.zip, 0.25 Mb)Soccer Icon SetWe are aware it’s winter out there right now, but it’s always good to prepare for summer early, right? This set was designed with the owners of sport-related websites in mind. If you are a fan or have designed a soccer-related website, these icons may come in handy. The set contains 8 icons in resolutions ranging from 32x32 to 512x512 pixels.

It was designed by the design agency especially for Smashing Magazine and its readers. (.zip, 2.8 MB, including Fireworks source file)Royal Icon SetThe set contains 6 “royal” icons which you can use for private and commercial projects, blogs and web-sites for free — without any restrictions whatsoever. The icons are available in.ico and.png-formats in resolutions 32×32px, 48×48px, 64×64px and 128×128px.This icon set was designed by from Ukraine especially for Smashing Magazine as a gift for its readers.

You can use the icons for private and commercial projects, blogs and web-sites for free. However, please take a closer look at the license agreement — e.g. It’s forbidden to sell or redistribute the icons without author’s and Smashing Magazine’s permission.

(0.35 Mb). (0.36 Mb)Cheers!Cheers is a free set of 12 “social” glasses, designed by Helen Gkizi from, especially for Smashing Magazine and its readers.You can use the set for all of your projects for free and without any restrictions. However, it’s forbidden to sell them. Please link to this article if you would like to spread the word. (.zip, 0.6 Mb)The Leaf Fall - A Social Icon SetThis set contains 11 social icons, designed in an autumn-style.

The set includes icons for Twitter, Technorati, RSS, Reddit, Facebook, Delicious, StumbleUpon and Digg. You can use the set for free — without any restrictions whatsoever.

The icons are available in the.png-format in various resolutions. This icon set is intended to be used by bloggers. It was designed by especially for Smashing Magazine and its readers.You can use the icons for private and commercial projects, blogs and web-sites for free, without any restrictions whatsoever. However, you are not allowed to sell or redistribute the icons without author’s and Smashing Magazine’s permission. (jpg).

These icons may not be used in any way for commercial purposes.16 crisp, sharp and beautiful icons released by the Eico Design Agency to celebrate its first anniversary. Available in.ico,.png and.icns-format in the resolution 128×128px.The icon set with three icons (E-Mail, music box and tool box) available.This set includes 4 files in resolutions 256×256px, 128×128px, 64×64px and 32×32px. Available in formats.ico and.png. Designed by Marvin Ristau.Pure Icon Pack contains 14 high quality (256x256 pixels) icons; PNG and ICO formats. This package includes: CD Icon, Computer Icon, Folder Icon, DVD Icon, Internet Icon, Network Icon, Search Icon, USB Icon, ZIP Icon and others.Over 1000 professional desktop icons designed for KDE, packed in one single pack and released under GPL.9.png and.icns (Leopard ready: 512x512 px), 2 Bonus and 1 Wallpaper (2560x1600 px).512x512px in png and icns.These desktop icons show the Camera Obscura as it was used by Nicephore Niepce by 1826 or 1827 in an Aperture and iPhoto style and are intended as an homage to him.

Mac + Win + Linux + iContainer. Leopard ready (512×512). Including 7 icons intended to replace Aperture or iPhoto, Aperture Library, iPhoto Library, Aperture Vault, Aperture Project and your picture folder.25 Facebook ui icons in a high res and vector form with slight adherences to the tango specification.6 Icons for Windows in 8 Sizes. My Computer, My Pictures, Dustbin Full, Dustbin Empty, CD and one Icon for your fav. Design Software.Small icons10 basic user interface icons available in the resolution 16×16px, 32×32px and 128×128px. Designed by Alexy Goncharenko.Fugue icon set358 icons (16×16px) are included in PNG format. The icons are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license.This set includes 9 icons one can use to display accessibility features or address accessibility issues.

Each object can be changed in size, rotated, increased or decreased in opacity, fitted with shadows or even overlapped with one another to create extra effects. Keynote Objects are compatible with Keynote, iWeb, Pages, Microsoft PowerPoint and Word.Two tasty icons of coffee goodness. These two freebies come in the following sizes and formats: 48 x 48 px; 128 x 128 px; 256 x 256 px; 512 x 512 px; PNG (transparent backgrounds); CNS; ICO.Formats:.icns,.png, 128×128px.

Icons have come a long way in the past decade, evolving from tiny, pixelated pictures into glossy, gorgeous artwork. Adding a custom icon to an application, document, or folder has evolved, too.

You no longer need to use special utilities to build icons at tiny sizes; instead, you can take just about any photo or illustration and convert it into an icon.Why customize your icons? At a basic level, you might just dislike or be bored with a specific icon and want to change it. Or you may want to create a custom icon to add character to a document or folder. Let’s say you’re preparing a folder full of illustrations to send to a potential client. This folder—an impromptu portfolio—would certainly look much more professional if the icon was your company logo.In part one of this series, I'll outline the basics of icon customization in OS X; in part two, I’ll talk about freeware and shareware utilities that can help you create custom icons. The basicsGiving an application, document, or folder a custom icon is simply a matter of copy and paste. In this short tutorial, we’ll customize a folder with an existing icon:Any image in your clipboard can be an icon—just paste it into the Get Info window.1.

Go to the Finder, click the Desktop, and choose File -New Folder.2. Give the folder a name, such as Icon Tutorial.3. Choose Go-Applications and locate Front Row (or any other application icon that appeals to you).4. Click Front Row once to highlight it and then choose File-Get Info.5. In the top left of the Get Info window, you’ll see the application icon. Click it once and then choose Edit-Copy.6. Close the Get Info window, return to the Desktop and locate the new folder you created.

Click it once to highlight it and, as before, choose File-Get Info.7. Click the blank folder icon in the top left and this time choose Edit-Paste.8.

Close the Get Info window and you’ll see that your folder icon has been replaced with the Front Row icon.You can revert to the standard folder icon at any time. Highlight the icon and choose File-Get Info.

Once the window appears, click the custom icon in the top left and hit delete on your keyboard. (Applications and documents with custom icons can be returned to their default icons in the same manner.)Don’t feel as though you can only borrow icons from other files currently on your computer. You can find many free, professionally designed icons online from sites like. Once you’ve downloaded the icons, just follow the instructions above to paste them onto your favorite files and folders.Make an icon from a photoYour icon file should be a maximum of 512 pixels tall or wide.You can add a personal touch to any file by giving it a simple photo icon.

Here, we’ll create a custom icon using a picture in ( ).1. Open iPhoto and locate an image you want to use as an icon.

Select a photo from a regular album as opposed to a smart album.2. Click the photo to highlight it and then choose Photos-Duplicate.3. Click the Edit icon to enter the edit mode.4. Click Crop and then, using the marquee, isolate the part of the photo you’d like to use as your icon (perhaps a toy or your child’s face). You can constrain the crop as a square, though it’s not necessary. When you’re happy with the crop, click Apply.5.

Click Done to return to your library. The photo you’ve just cropped should still be highlighted. Choose Edit-Copy.6. Return to the Finder and locate the file you want to customize. Click it once to highlight it and then choose File -Get Info.7. Click the icon in the top left and the choose Edit-Paste.8.

Close the window, and you’ll see that you’ve successfully created a custom photo icon. Make an icon from artworkBuilding an icon from your own artwork is fun and can add finesse to your digital portfolio. In this final tutorial, we’ll create a custom icon with ( ).The key thing to remember is that your artwork must have proper masking; otherwise, an icon of your company logo, for example, could end up with an awkward white background. Vector artwork imported into Photoshop typically has proper transparency and this will carry over to your final icon. However, if you have a flattened image file and you want to isolate part your artwork, you’ll need to create a mask from scratch.

(This technique is beyond the scope of this article; for assistance, please consult our article.)Use the crop tool isolate the part of the photo you want to use as your icon.1. Open your artwork in Adobe Photoshop CS3 or CS4.

This can be a photo, a digital painting, or vector artwork. If you’re opening an Adobe Illustrator file, choose Crop to-Art Box. Anti-alias and Constrain Proportions should remain checked, but depending upon the original size of your artwork, you may want to reduce the resolution 150 ppi.2. Choose Image-Image Size. You must now reduce the artwork to a maximum of 512 pixels in either direction. Ensure that Constrain Proportions is checked and then enter 512 in either the width or height field (which ever has the largest number).

Once your art has been resized, you’ll need to merge any visible layers. Choose Layer-Merge Visible.4.

Choose File -Save As. Now choose PNG as the format and save the file to the Desktop.5. Locate the picture file on your Desktop. Double-click the file to open it in Preview and then choose Edit-Select All, followed by Edit -Copy.6. Flip back to the Finder and locate the file you want to customize. Click it once to highlight it and then choose File-Get Info.7. Click the icon in the top left and the choose Edit-Paste.8.

After closing the window, you’ll see that your new icon has a transparent background with clean, smooth edges.Note that you can copy your icon artwork directly from Photoshop and paste it into Get Info. However, because of the way Photoshop copies layered content, the results can be unpredictable.Stay tuned for part two of this series (which will run on March 11, 2010), in which I'll discuss some neat utilities to help you create unique icons. Chris McVeigh is an author, illustrator, and toy photographer based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Part two of this series runs on March 11, 2010.